Headcannon Series
by Anirudh
Summary: Series of headcannons based on the Harry Potter series, featuring stories from before and after the events of the seven books. Each headcannon is completely unrelated to the other, with the only thing in common being the seven books of the original franchise. Delve into the stories of your beloved characters as never seen before.
1. Mrs Black

Sirius Black was a beautiful baby. When he was born, his family called him the bet looking Black there had ever been. From the first time he wailed in his mother's arms, he was instantly everyone's favourite. Mrs Black was proud to have given birth to a boy as perfect as little Sirius. They named him after the brightest star in the night sky, hoping that the boy would take after his namesake, and bring glory to the house of Blacks.

The first time Sirius Black befriended a Muggle from No. 10, Mrs Black was furious. However, she reasoned that Sirius didn't know any better, and that eventually he would learn not to consort with such lowly creatures as Muggles. But Sirius never learnt. Eventually, it was time for Sirius to go to Hogwarts, and Mrs Black was quite glad to get rid of him for some time: his mischievous ways around the house seemed only to have furthered with age, and he seemed to be making an active effort to bring disgrace to his Pureblood heritage. She hoped that once he was sorted into Slytherin, some sense would be knocked back in him. There was no question of him going to any other house: she wouldn't have it.

Mrs Black was ecstatic when Sirius sent a letter to her on the very first day back, for she was anxious to hear how the Slytherins had cheered when another Black had joined their ranks. However, he refused to tell her which house he had been sorted into, and instead ranted on for pages about a boy he had befriended named James Potter. At least the Potters were a Pureblood family, she thought, even if they weren't quite in the same range as the Blacks. She promptly wrote back to Sirius, asking him to tell her more about Slytherin house, eager to find out how her son had fit in.

Weeks went by without any correspondence from Sirius, and Mrs Black began to get more and more worried. Had Sirius not been sorted into Slytherin? Surely such a ghastly scenario was impossible. What if he had been sorted into Hufflepuff, or, God forbid it, Gryffindor? She would die of horror if her flesh and blood were put into that house of Mudbloods and Muggle Lovers. She wouldn't have it, she just wouldn't. Mrs Black wrote and urgent letter to Horace Slughorn, seeking reassurance that the Noble name of Black remained, to this day, unblemished.

Professor Slughorn replied with grim news, offerring regret at the fact that he hadn't, in fact, gotten the young Black for himself, and instead he had gone to Gryffindor. The rest of the letter, which offered great praise about young Sirius, was left unread. The next day, Sirius received a Howler at breakfast, and Mrs Black's shrill voice echoed all through the Great Hall, condemning Sirius for bringing shame to the Noble family of Black. "You have shown that you are no son of mine", she screeched, "and you will do well to keep you ill ways away from my Regulus. Never have I been as disappointed of a Black as I am of you today".

Young Sirius Black, only eleven at the time, burst into tears. He rushed from the Great Hall, having barely eaten, and was not seen for two days, for he had locked himself up in the Gryffindor tower. Eventually, hunger drove him out, and when Sirius stepped out of his dormitory into the common room, the entire Gryffindor house burst into applause. He had broken a trend, they chanted, he had ruined the false image of the Blacks, and shown that family history was no guarantee of one's ability. He had showed everyone at school that it was their choices, far more than their abilities, which made them who they were. James Potter ran towards Sirius and gave him a hug, whispering into his ear: "My parents always did want another child, and I have always wanted a brother".

Mrs Black would get letters upon letters from Sirius, droning on and on about his wonderful friends and classes and the lovely time he was having at Hogwarts. She would scan the letter once, looking for an apology from Sirius for disgracing the Noble name of Black, but she soon realised that it was not to come. Eventually, she stopped reading his letters altogether, and never once replied. In his fifth year, Mrs Black sent a letter to Sirius, saying that he did not need to come home for Christmas, that she did not want Regulus to spend a second more with him than was necessary. One year later, Sirius ran away from home, and though Mrs Black feigned outrage, she was glad that her family was free of the disgrace that was Sirius Black.

She blasted his name off the family tree, and neither of them ever heard from the other again. When she finally died and Sirius fell into inheritance of No. 12, he vowed to never set foot in that house again.


	2. Lily and Petunia Evans

Lily Evans came home after her sixth year in Hogwarts, eager forevermore to start her final year in Hogwarts, and sorely dreading the two month wait with her now estranged sister, Petunia. However, this time Lily was certain that all her differences with Petunia would vanish forever. This time, Lily had a secret to share.

For Lily had fallen for a boy. A wonderful, adorable, smart, funny, albeit arrogant and annoying boy. He was kind hearted and had all his priorities right, and lately he had matured a lot. Though Lily could never forget some of the things that James Potter had done, she was willing to forgive him, because she believed that everyone deserved a second chance. Everyone.

Lily came home skipping and hopelessly in love. She couldn't stop smiling and her owl barely had time to stop and drink water before he was sent off again with a scented letter in his beak to James, miles to the north, where James would be eagerly waiting with his window open. One such day, James sent a letter asking Lily to live with him after Hogwarts, and Lily could barely contain her excitement.

For the duration of the summer vacation now, Lily had been desperately trying to get Petunia to talk to her, to tell her about this wonderful turn her life had taken, to be real sisters and just talk as real sisters do. Petunia, however, kept snarling at Lily and avoiding her, making sure that even the brief mealtimes when they came face to face were awkward and silent. Their parents noticed this too, but they realised that the girls were at an age where they would have to sort their differences out themselves.

Lily bounded into Petunia's room moments after she sent an enthusiastic reply to James. Adamant to restore her relationship with her sister, whom she loved more than anyone else in the world, Lily didn't stop knocking at Petunia's door for hours, at which point Petunia gave up. Lily moved in for a hug, but Petunia just turned around and walked over to her window.

Lily at once launched into a detailed narrative of her time at Hogwarts and before she knew it, she was talking about James and how she loved him and how she couldn't imagine life without him. Lily waited for Petunia ask a hundred questions and to squeal and say how happy she was for Lily and for Petunia to give her the much awaited hug, but Petunia just stood at the window and continued to stare outside.

Lily asked repeatedly if Petunia wanted to say or ask something, or if Petunia had stories of her own that she wanted to share. Petunia just stood silently at the window, then she turned around, sneering.

"You're pregnant aren't you? Why else would anyone want to marry YOU? You're just a freak. Unless he's a drunk, and doesn't know up from down. I will be marrying a proper gentleman, and I'll make sure that Mum and Dad know all about this worthless wayward who has gotten you pregnant. How disappointed they will be, their precious Lily..."

Before she knew what she was doing, Lily had stunned Petunia. Minutes later, a Howler had come from Ministry of Magic, warning Lily Evans against the use of underage magic. For the first time ever, Lily saw her parents disappointed in her. For the first time ever, Mr and Mrs Evans didn't drop Lily off at Platform 9 and 3/4. Lily swore, as she cried into James' shoulder on board the Hogwarts Express, that she would never speak to Petunia, ever again.


	3. Teddy Lupin

Soon after the war ended, Andromeda went into depression, having lost her husband, her daughter and her son in all all at once. She found herself unable to take care of baby Teddy Lupin, who reminded her of Nymphadora increasingly more each day. Young Harry found himself taking the responsibility at an age where he himself needed help to get over the events of the previous years, but he rose up to the task marvelously, aided fully by the Weasleys and Hermione, of course. 

After Harry got a job and got a small house in Godric's Hollow, he took Teddy to live with him full time, aiming to connect to the young boy and guiding him through life, as he knew Sirius would have guided him if he had the chance. Then he married Ginny and even before they had James, their family had seemed complete. 

When Teddy reached the age of six, Harry and Ginny realised that it was time that Teddy learnt about his parents and his true identity. They sat him down one evening after tea and explained to him everything about Voldemort and the Marauders and Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, making it as simple and as easy as possible for him to understand and process all this information. 

Teddy was heartbroken. He couldn't believe that Harry and Ginny weren't his parents, let alone that he had never even gotten to known them. For days he couldn't bring himself to look at Harry or Ginny or any of the Weasleys the same way, and the only person he ever wanted to talk to was Andromeda, who would tell him stories about his mother, and he would come back from the trips feeling much better about everything than before. 

When it was finally time for young Teddy to go to Hogwarts, he wished more than anything that Andromeda could accompany him to platform 9 and 3/4, but her increasingly dwindling health had caused her to get bedridden. When the Hogwarts express finally reached Hogwarts, Teddy felt overwhelmed with feelings, realising that this is the place where his parents had died. He stepped into the Great Hall and stood frozen to the spot, soaking in whatever he could about his parents. This is where they'd spent their last moments, defending this place and its people from the onslaught of Voldemort. 

As Teddy sat gingerly on the stool under the tattered Sorting Hat, he couldn't care less about which house he would go to, thinking only of how much he wanted to avenge their deaths. When the hat announced that he Teddy Lupin had been sorted into Ravenclaw, he moved towards the cheering table with a heavy feeling in his chest: There was no one who would hug him and pat him on the back and tell him that they were proud of him for making it to Ravenclaw. 

Teddy quickly started showing talent in Herbology and Defense against the Dark Arts, and turned out to be an absolute disaster at potions. Teddy knew to forgive Harry and the rest when he went to the staff room to see Professor McGonagall and heard her telling the rest of the teachers how much Teddy Lupin reminded her of both his parents, and how the Potters and the Weasleys had perfectly raised Teddy to make him more like his parents than them. 

Teddy, who had been rebelliously sporting a pink head of hair, promptly changed his hair colour to black, and switched back between black and red to pay respects to the two people who would, as far as he was concerned, always be his parents.


	4. Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald

Young Albus Dumbledore lay in his bed on a white, snowy morning in Godric's Hollow. It had been years since his best friend, and for all intents and purposes his lover, had lay there with him, but it was as though Albus could still smell the soft, summery scent of Gellert Grindelwald on his pillow and sheets. If Albus closed his eyes and thought hard enough, he could almost feel the warmth coming off of Gellert's body, making Albus feel the one thing which meant more to him than anything else: safe.

So many times Albus had tried, in vain, to get over Gellert. He was, after all, a menace to the wizarding world and needed to be stopped. Albus wanted to deny it, but he knew that in the end it would come down to the two of them, and that Albus would no longer be able to hide behind his illusion of love to escape his duty towards the community. More than anything else, Ariana's death had been responsible for convincing him that there was no redemption for Grindelwald, that he had strayed further onto the dark path than wise, and that no one, not even Albus, could bring him back.

Albus got up off his bed, having barely slept at all in the first place, and checked his nose in the mirror which was still crooked from where Aberforth had punched him at Ariana's funeral. Fixing the nose didn't seem right; Albus deserved the pain, and he would wear the scar on his face forever as a mark of his weakness and his foolishness.

Never again, Albus decided, would he ever let anyone get that close to him. Gellert had taken a place in Albus' heart which had made Albus oblivious to his faults. Albus had gotten so caught up with the beauty and brilliance and perfection and charm of Gellert that he had failed to notice, or maybe refused to acknowledge, that Gellert's ambitious aims steadily became more sinister and more obsessive in nature. How could he have been so foolish?

Albus walked out into the graveyard of the church around the corner from Batty's house and sat at the foot of Ariana's grave. Before he knew it, Albus was sobbing heavily into the snow, his tears melting the icy coat over her grave to reveal the dark stone beneath. All Albus wanted to do was to die and be with his beloved, sweet, innocent sister. No matter what the others said, Albus was responsible for her death, and he would forever pay the price of his foolishness in the form of the pain which consumed him so completely.

Albus would go on to study comprehensively and become, for all intents and purposes, the greatest wizard of all time. He would be acknowledged by witched and wizards across the wizarding world, and he would eventually face Grindelwald off in the legendary duel which finally put an end to the tyrannous wizard. What no one would ever know, what he would never let people know, would be how every night he would cry himself to sleep; how every second of every waking moment that he had, he would spend thinking about how easily he would give up all his achievements for having Ariana back for even a moment; how he would lose control of himself whenever he was alone; how he would never, ever let anyone come as close to him as Ariana, so he would never have to deal with the pain of loss or the burden of guilt.

Albus would forever fight for the right cause and do everything in his power to redeem himself of the crime of which he knew he was guilty, but seeing Aberforth's eyes, so similar to his own, he would once again be reminded of the fact that there was no redemption for his sins, that once you lose family, you lose everything. Albus would search obsessively for the Hallows, the only method he knew of conquering death, and demand that Ariana be returned to him, claiming that he had suffered enough and didn't deserve to suffer anymore.

Only years and years later, in his wise, old age, would Albus come across little Harry looking at the Mirror of Erised and realise, while describing how it drives people mad, that he had been driven mad before it too. He would look at it one last time, seeing as ever him dying at the hands of Grindelwald instead of Ariana, before vowing to never think of Him again.

Six years later, Albus would once again be thrown into the middle of that duel, where he had stood powerless, unable to believe what he was seeing Gellert do, unable to bring himself to raise his wand against the man whom Albus loved more than anything else in the world, except of course his sister. Albus would succumb to the power of Voldemort's potion and would relive the worst horror of his life, of being rendered incapacitated by the very same love which he championed as the basis of greatness. He would drown for the last time in the pain of losing the two most valuable people in his life at once, one to the inevitable claws of death and the other to distrust.

Hours later, Albus would plead to his one ally, to Severus, for relief. Relief from the pain in his arm which threatened to envelop his body; relief from his sister's agonised screaming, which he in his old age could bear no more; relief from the guilt which he had cowardly carried all his life. He would beg Severus for relief, and would see the flicker of pain in his eyes before seeing the blinding flash of green last, which would be the last thing he'd ever see.


End file.
